Soulcall: Correct Mistakes
by Higuchimon
Summary: Since civilization began, people find their soulmates via a counter on their wrist. This can mean true love, true friendship, or anything in between and beyond. And yet when the Digimon Kaiser and the new leader of the Chosen Children cross paths for the first time, it somehow still manages to surprise both of them. [hiatus: see profile for details]
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Correct Mistakes  
 **Characters:** Ken, Daisuke|| **Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
 **Word Count:** chapter: 4,022||story: 4,022|| **Chapters:** 1/15  
 **Genre:** Romance, Drama|| **Rated:** PG-13  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing, K20, AU; Soulmate Challenge; One Ship Boot Camp, #12, technical; DaiKen Week 2017, day #2, soulmates; Easter Advent 2017: Explore Your World, #20, third person POV fic  
 **Notes:** This is a modified Digimon 02.  
 **Summary:** Since civilization began, people find their soulmates via a counter on their wrist. This can mean true love, true friendship, or anything in between and beyond. And yet when the Digimon Kaiser and the new leader of the Chosen Children cross paths for the first time, it somehow still manages to surprise both of them.

* * *

Daisuke's head spun and throbbed. His stomach churned as if he'd just had a batch of Jun's worst attempts at cooking ever, which was ridiculous, because he'd learned years ago never to try to eat anything that she made. She insisted that she was getting better, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Let whatever future boyfriends she had deal with that.

His stomach churned regardless and when he tried to pry his eyes open, nothing but deep darkness surrounded him. That didn't make any sense either. It was daylight, wasn't it? School hadn't ended that long ago. They'd come to the Digital World. They'd been looking for something.

Yeah, that was it. He remembered now. V-mon had been there, and Miyako and Iori, and then there'd been… an attack? Yeah, he remembered that! Daisuke would've patted himself on the back if he could. The Digimon Kaiser's slaves attacked and he'd been about to armor evolve V-mon and…

Right about there was where his memory failed. Daisuke frowned, trying to poke through the veil over his thoughts, and not having a whole lot of luck doing so. He thought he remembered a few vague images, but nothing he could really pin down. That just made him more annoyed with everything. Today was supposed to be a _good day_ for him. Today was when he would meet his soulmate, whoever it was!

He tried to open his eyes again and still only darkness enfolded him. He tried moving his arm and nothing happened. That, he realized, was because something held it down. Something held down his arms and legs.

"Hey!" Daisuke yelled, or tried to. The sound didn't make it past his lips, thanks to the thick gag he found out had been tied around his mouth.

Today was just not turning into the kind of day that he'd hoped to have.

A nice happy meeting with the other half of his soul, something that most people looked forward to, that was all he'd asked out of today, once he'd realized that the counter had spiraled down to just a few hours. He'd looked at every person he passed by in the hopes that somehow they would be the one. So far, nothing.

And now he was here. Wherever here was. Where he couldn't see anything and there wasn't anything to hear, and he didn't know where his Digimon partner was, and this was _clearly_ all the Kaiser's fault.

 _I'm going to give him a piece of my mind._ Maybe even several pieces. As many pieces as it took for the Kaiser to realize that Motomiya Daisuke wasn't at all happy about this and would not rest until he was out of here.

He struggled against whatever it was that was holding him down until he didn't have the strength to do so anymore. "V-mon!" He tried to yell again, not caring about the gag. "Where are you?"

At least he wanted to say all of that. The gag made it difficult for him to be certain of what was actually coming out. He decided it was the thought that counted.

 _How much time is left?_ Daisuke strained even more, and still nothing happened. _Hey, am I going to meet my soulmate because they rescue me from here?_ That would be kind of interesting. He'd always imagined himself being more the 'rescuer' than the 'rescuee' but maybe he could return the favor at some point.

Without warning, light exploded all around him. Daisuke yelped, the sound muffled like all the ones before that he'd tried to make, and slammed his eyes closed.

"I see you're awake." He'd never heard that voice in his life. It didn't sound like what he'd sort of imagined his soulmate would be like. He'd always vaguely imagined a female voice, for one thing, though he'd never given it that much thought.

 _Wait, if this is a guy, then..._ Daisuke yanked harder at the bonds that held him, cracking his eyes open once more. It hurt to do so, but at least this time he could see where he was. He mostly wished he hadn't.

Less than a handful of steps away stood someone who looked a little taller than he was, dressed in some kind of weird blue and white outfit, and was that a _whip_ hanging on his belt? Most of his face remained concealed by a large pair of glasses that Daisuke would've placed a bet weren't prescription at all. He had a wild shock of dark blue hair, and while Daisuke couldn't see his eyes, he had a feeling they were cruel. The mocking tilt of the stranger's lips made up for the lack of eyes, though.

"Who the heck are you?" Still gagged, the words weren't as clear as Daisuke would've liked. Even though he asked, he knew the answer. There was no one else this person could be except the mysterious Digimon Kaiser.

Daisuke wasn't impressed.

The Kaiser stepped forward, each movement calm and unhurried. "The Digimon Kaiser." Clearly he'd understood Daisuke even with the gag in his mouth. "But to you, I'm something else altogether."

 _Yeah, a pain._ Daisuke rolled his eyes, even as the Kaiser came closer and reached out for him. Daisuke tried to pull away, though he had no idea of where he could go, since he appeared to be chained down to something that felt a lot like a table.

The Kaiser's hand closed around Daisuke's left wrist, pulling it upward. Whatever it was that bound Daisuke to the table melted away. Daisuke tried to take a swing, but the Kaiser's grip remained far too strong. He pulled Daisuke's arm around, turning it to the side so the numbers could be seen clearly.

Daisuke, at the moment, couldn't find himself that interested in his countdown. Not when he wanted to punch the Kaiser in the face. But try as he might, he just couldn't get his arm to move the way he wanted to. The Kaiser's fingers pressed in just the right area to keep him from doing anything besides flop around uselessly, if it weren't for the Kaiser holding him firm.

"Look." The Kaiser moved Daisuke's arm closer to him. "Do you see it?"

Daisuke frowned, looking at the counter, then blinked, shook his head quickly, and looked again. He couldn't have seen what he thought he did. It had to be wrong, somehow.

And yet the numbers had stopped at zero. They weren't red anymore either. A soft, almost luminescent green marked his skin instead: the color of when one had met one's soulmate and yet the all-important first touch hadn't happened yet. Only when skin touched skin would the numbers themselves fade away, replaced by their mutual marks.

"I'm certain you know what this means," the Kaiser said, staring down at Daisuke. "Or do I need to explain it to you? Using small words, no doubt."

Daisuke shook his head, glaring at his captor. He wasn't an idiot. His soulmate was around here somewhere and if the Kaiser had done something, locked the other up somewhere, then Daisuke was going to let him have it!

Once he got off this table. However he had to do it.

The Kaiser set Daisuke's wrist back down and the moment he did, the manacle that had held it before slipped right back over it. Daisuke jerked at it almost out of habit by now, then glared some more. There wasn't much else that he could do, aside from mumbling words that couldn't even be heard properly behind this gag.

Which was why Daisuke found himself very confused when the Kaiser held up his own left arm and began to pull down his sleeve. Gleaming there, in that same green that marked Daisuke now, was a finished countdown.

 _Wait, this guy has a soulmate? He has a soul at all?_ From what Daisuke had heard about him the day before, he wouldn't have guessed it. Or if he had, it probably wouldn't finish counting for years. What were the odds that it would end the same day that his did?

Then the rest of what that meant slammed into his head. The Kaiser also had met his soulmate, but hadn't touched them either. Okay, so it was a little unusual for people to meet their soulmate before they'd even hit their teens, but it had been known to happen. And for two people to do it…

Two people in the same world at the same time, a world that not everyone could get to...

Daisuke knew he was missing something. He also knew that he wanted to miss it. The Kaiser _hadn't_ missed it and kept on staring at him with those unseen cold eyes.

"Are you so dense that I need to spell it out for you? Or perhaps I should prove it?" The Kaiser's left hand hovered over Daisuke's own hand and Daisuke shook his head even more violently than before, pulling in an attempt to get out of the restraints that held no more success than the last ones had.

Now the Kaiser smiled like a cat, sly and smug. "So you do understand." He leaned forward a little. "I must say I never expected that _my_ soulmate would be someone like _you_. Someone who thinks he can fight against me. I expected someone a little more intelligent." He gave Daisuke a considering kind of look. "I suppose I should at least give you the chance to join me willingly."

Daisuke wasn't very good at body language, but he managed a look that he thought conveyed his utter disgust at the very thought pretty well. The Digimon Kaiser was not his soulmate. Whoever picked out these things had to have more sense than that! This was just some kind of trick and it was probably all the Kaiser's evil plan and Daisuke wasn't going to fall for it, not one little bit!

"If that's the way that you feel about it, then I have no other choice but to go to my second plan," the Kaiser said. If Daisuke hadn't known better – and he did, really, he did – then he would've thought the other looked a little saddened by whatever this was. As if he'd really thought Daisuke would join him and the thought that he wouldn't upset him.

Yeah, well, he'd just have to get over it.

"We are soulmates, Motomiya Daisuke. That means you belong to me. I just might have to be a little more persuasive about it than I thought I would be."

Daisuke's mind filled with sudden images of Evil Rings and himself standing next to the Kaiser with the same kind of red-eyed blankness that he'd seen on those Digimon who wore Rings and his stomach churned even more, doing its best imitation of a blender.

What the Kaiser held in his hands wasn't a Ring, though. It was V-mon, wriggling as hard as Daisuke had, and no more able to talk because of a gag around _his_ mouth.

Clearly the Kaiser didn't want to hear anything that either of them had to say. Daisuke wanted to talk for that reason alone.

"You have another choice to make now. Either you do as I tell you to do, or I kill your Digimon." The Kaiser's grip around V-mon's neck tightened to the point V-mon couldn't even struggle. "I suggest that you choose quickly. I'm not very patient."

Daisuke longed to have his hands around the Kaiser's own neck. He'd barely known V-mon a full day and yet there was no way that he could let the Digimon die because of him. He didn't doubt at all that the Kaiser would do it, too. He was just that cruel. Just that _evil_.

He dropped his head back against the table. He didn't want to do this. He could tell V-mon didn't want him to do it either.

 _Can't let him kill you. What would Taichi-san say?_ He didn't know and he didn't want to find out.

Daisuke started to move his head up. The Kaiser's lips thinned in satisfaction.

"Excuse me," a new voice spoke up. Daisuke squirmed around trying to get a look at who it was, but the voice came from too low to the ground and he wasn't in position to really see that far down. "But you wanted to know if any of the others got close and they are. They're almost here."

The words that came out of the Kaiser's mouth were something that Daisuke's mother would've grounded him for life for using. Daisuke thought at least some of them were from some other language.

The Kaiser broke off his tirade after a few seconds, then tossed V-mon to the ground. "Tie him up and bring him along, Wormmon. I have a few things to say to them."

Daisuke really, really wanted to ask what was going on, but he'd had enough of trying to talk and none of it being properly said because of the gag. He settled for being glad that V-mon wasn't being choked anymore. He still couldn't see who this 'Wormmon' was, and missed his chance as the table he remained chained to rolled on after the Kaiser. _Wonder who he's talking about. Is it the others? I bet it is._ He really wanted it to be them. Without the threat of V-mon's life being held over him, he didn't have to do _anything_ the Kaiser wanted him to do.

And best of all, he didn't have to believe that the Digimon Kaiser was his soulmate.

* * *

For all of his life, Ichijouji Ken watched the counter on his wrist wind down, so much sooner than almost everyone that he knew. _Their_ counters led up to meetings in high school or college or beyond. One or two didn't have counters at all.

But the scarlet numbers counted down relentlessly on his arm and he had worked out the date when he and his soulmate would finally cross paths and it was _today_.

And ever since the day before, a low-grade rage burned through him as he realized who fate must've chosen for him and how could this not be some kind of a grand joke?

Ever since he'd learned of the Digital World and made up his mind that he would become its unquestioned ruler and master, he'd looked forward to meeting his soulmate even more. How could whoever _he_ was bound to _not_ agree with him? How could he not have a strong ally waiting for him, someone who would look forward to subjugating this world as much as he did?

And then the day before happened. The day when he'd first seen those he knew would become his enemies.

He'd done his research. He knew there were those who'd come to the Digital World before him. Common sense dictated that he search out those who would resist him and work to eliminate them before they could cause him any trouble.

Part of that elimination included locating their timers and finding out if that information could be of use to him.

For the most part, it wasn't. Some of them had only months to go, two of them – the brunet and blond – already knew their soulmates were one another. He did take note of that, not ruling out that it might be useful at some point.

Then _new_ Chosen appeared, and one of them could _evolve_.

He'd gone to a great deal of trouble to halt evolution except on his terms. And now this _idiot_ had the almighty gall to get around his work?

Armor Evolution. He would have to find a way to stop it.

That held his attention for most of the night, until a quiet beeping managed to catch his attention. He'd set the computers at the base to scan for the countdown and to alert him if it fell within certain parameters.

Not that he'd expected that it _would_ , but he wanted to make certain. Just to mark something off of his mental list.

Only now the message came in loud and clear: this boy, this idiot, this fool, this _enemy_ who dared to Armor Evolve and stand against him.

His counter matched the Kaiser's down to the second.

This wasn't a completely impossible situation. Given the way people met one another at different times and places in the world, there were several counters that ran out at the same time and yet the people marked by them weren't always soulmates. It wasn't just the timer. It was the encounter itself, and the results of touching one another afterward, that marked true soulmates.

But other factors brought themselves into play here as well: there wasn't any way that Ken would be anywhere but in the Digital World when his counter ran to zero. This _pest_ would likely also be in the Digital World. The timing of it would be after classes let out for the day, which was also when they'd arrived there the day before.

None of the other Chosen had counters that ran out that day, which limited the amount of people that they could be matched to. It would have to be someone who would be or could be in the Digital World at that point in time.

There was a slim chance that it could be a Digimon. A few of them had counters. Though none that he'd seen matched to any that he knew of, including his own.

All in all, every sign that he could uncover pointed toward this _Motomiya Daisuke_ , carrier of the Digimental of Courage, to being his soulmate.

This was ridiculous beyond any previous definition of the word. He was the _Digimon Kaiser_! His purpose, role, and meaning in all of this was to crush any resistance underneath his feet and rule as the unquestioned and feared monarch of the world. _Motomiya's_ purpose was to be his enemy, to give him something and someone to fight against. What kind of a conquest would it be if he didn't have anyone that he could _fight_?

All night he contemplated that, and into the next day as he went through the boring motions of school. He very seldom was grateful to his school uniform for anything at all, but since it covered his arm and thus kept anyone else from being aware that his encounter with his soulmate would be that afternoon, this once he _was_ grateful for it.

And as the time ticked down he considered his options. He could go on as if the counters meant nothing. Motomiya would be his sooner or later. It was inevitable. The counters weren't wrong. The interpretation of them could be, but not the counters themselves.

Or he could make a move that his opponents wouldn't expect.

Motomiya Daisuke already belonged to him. What he needed to do was convince Motomiya himself of that, and then he would have the ally that he'd wanted all along. The other Chosen – such as they were – would likely fight against him anyway, convinced that he'd brainwashed their precious new Chosen.

Or that he'd been meant to be the Kaiser's from the start – which was indeed true – and they'd been foolish to ever call him an ally in the first place.

It took him only a short time to make the proper arrangements once he got to the Digital World. He set up an alert to know when the others arrived. He chose the Digimon who would carry out the abduction for him.

Doing it himself had a certain appeal to it, but he had other tasks to deal with and the sooner he had Motomiya tied up, the better.

He also chose a small army of Digimon who would keep the Chosen at bay until they either gave up and left or were wiped out altogether. Either outcome was acceptable to him.

 _Now, he's going to be difficult._ Ken wasn't foolish enough to expect that the sight of their matching counters would at once convince Motomiya to join with him. He would hope; perhaps Motomiya was one of those romantic types who would be convinced that his soulmate _must_ be right simply because they were soulmates.

But he didn't want to count on that. He would need very compelling arguments to make this stick.

 _His partner._ Kaiser smiled to himself at that. He would find out just how strong the bond between them was and use it to his advantage. So the Digimon would have to be taken as well.

That wasn't such a bad idea in and of itself. He would have to find out how to stop this Armor Evolution regardless of what the counters said. His goal came above all else.

Once he had everything sorted out and the Chosen moved through the Digital World, he got himself into position. He would have Motomiya brought directly to the fortress.

 _If I put him somewhere else, they're going to try to rescue him, and I have no intentions of letting them take him back._

Regardless of what Motomiya Daisuke chose to believe or do, they _were_ soulmates. So he would be staying there for the time being.

* * *

The abduction came off without a single hitch. Snimon distracted the Chosen and Drimogemon dug up underneath them, opening a hole right beneath Motomiya and catching him and V-mon as they fell into it.

Kaiser awaited them at the bottom of the hole, a tunnel already in place that would take him to where his AirDramon waited.

Motomiya groaned, battered enough from the fall and Drimogimon's claws not to move a great deal. Kaiser kicked him over, making certain not to make skin to skin contact. The counter was down to nothing more than seconds.

Motomiya's arm fell toward him and Kaiser grabbed onto it, pulling the sleeve up.

 _Yes. Exactly to the moment._

Another groan and Motomiya's eyes fluttered for a few moments, opening just enough so he could look out, and presumably saw the Kaiser.

Five.

His eyes cleared a little, some sense flowing into them.

Four.

Kaiser smiled down at him, so very pleased that this moment had come at last.

Three.

Motomiya blinked again, not a hint of recognition in his eyes. As it should be.

Two.

Kaiser dropped Motomiya's arm and pulled out a handkerchief he'd soaked in a very special drug before his slaves brought his soulmate to him.

One.

"Good night, Motomiya. We'll talk soon."

Zero.

He pressed the cloth over Motomiya's mouth and nose. There wasn't any struggling at all. Just a few deep breaths and Motomiya's – very pretty – brown eyes closed and he fell into a deep sleep.

Taking care all the while not to touch skin to skin, Kaiser scooped Motomiya into his arms and carried him down the tunnel to the waiting AirDramon. The drug would keep his soulmate out for at least an hour, giving Kaiser plenty of time to get him to the fortress and the other preparations made.

He could still hear V-mon wriggling and struggling in Mojyamon's grip, insisting that the two of them be let go, how dare Kaiser do any of this, and more such. Perhaps he'd have the Digimon knocked out as well. Or get a gag. He didn't want any noise at all to interrupt this all important first meeting.

Not even from Motomiya Daisuke himself.

Perhaps especially not from him.

* * *

Once AirDramon arrived at the fortress, Kaiser carried Daisuke bridal-style to the room he'd chosen for their first proper encounter. He made sure that V-mon was tied up and gagged before he settled Daisuke onto the table and began to bind him there. He kept the drugged cloth nearby, applying it in small doses whenever Daisuke started to stir.

Daisuke probably wouldn't realize it but now that he was Kaiser's soulmate, he didn't have to make any more decisions for himself. He'd probably enjoy the rest, once he finally accepted it.

Once Kaiser found his preparations complete, he stepped into the shadows and waited. His soulmate would wake soon enough, and then the fun could begin.

 **To Be Continued**

 **Note:** I've had this in the works for ages. And having it be a prompt for DaiKen week just made me move ahead on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Word Count:** 8,103/60,000|| **Chapters:** 2/15

* * *

All of the Chosen who'd come on this mission currently existed in various stages that ranged from mildly confused to absolutely terrified. Part of Koushirou's confusion cleared up after the lifting of the Digimentals of Knowledge and Love were lifted. There were still a great many things that none of them knew about this situation, but each new event added another piece to the puzzle.

But at the moment, he couldn't quite figure out the piece they all wanted to the most.

He stared at his laptop, gaze flicking over to his Digivice intermittently, as well as to the new Digivice beside his: the one that belonged to Inoue Miyako.

 _I hoped I would be able to locate Motomiya-kun's device by using both of them, but I can't find_ _ **anything**_ _._ That worried him. They knew that he'd been abducted by the Digimon Kaiser. That had been easy enough to figure out.

What they had no idea of was _why_. Koushirou suspected at least one reason involved the fact that Daisuke, at the time, had been the only one with a Digimental, making him their best fighter against the Kaiser's plans.

But now they had two more, and exactly how that would affect matters remained unknown.

The first point to finding out was being able to rescue Motomiya-kun. Not to mention doing so was extremely necessary. They couldn't just let the Kaiser keep one of them prisoner.

There was another possibility, one that Koushirou didn't want to observe very closely. There wasn't a great deal that could make him shiver, but the thought that one of their own could be the enemy's soulmate sent shivers through him.

Laughter echoed throughout the area. Koushirou stood on his feet a moment later, clutching his laptop in one hand and Digivice in the other. Miyako grabbed hers back, standing back to back with Iori, the two of them and their partners scanning around for any sign of where the noise came from.

"You have no business here," someone said, the voice coming from above.

"There!" Sora pointed, and Koushirou followed her gesture to where an AirDramon hovered in the sky. Perched on it was a human, perhaps around Takeru or Hikari's age, dressed in a blue and white uniform, arms folded over his chest, staring at them, contempt written in every line of his body.

"The Digimon Kaiser," Miyako murmured, shuddering at the sight of him, fingers gripping harder at her partner's ruff.

Iori raised his head, green eyes flickering in anger. "Where is Motomiya-kun? What did you do to him?"

The Kaiser's lips thinned into a smile. "Nothing at all."

Not a single one of them believed that for so much as a second. Kaiser must have figured that out, given his cold laugh a heartbeat later.

"Not yet, that is. But before long, he'll be serving me. Quite willingly, I might add."

Absolute silence fell in the wake of that, broken at last by Hikari's half-stifled giggles. To Koushirou's ears, she sounded more startled than actually amused.

"You think he's your soulmate?" Hikari asked. She, Takeru, and their partners stayed mostly out of sight, a wise decision in Koushirou's opinion. It was the same reason he and Sora wanted to stay out of his way, at least until they ascertained if they could do anything to assist in breaking those Evil Rings.

The Kaiser's smile could be seen even from that distance. It didn't make Koushirou feel any better to see it.

"And why would you think he's not? Oh, let me guess." The Kaiser chuckled, his laughter far more amused than it had any right to be. "Because he is 'good' and I am 'evil' and that just can't be. Is that it?"

Miyako snorted. "I would say because you're trying to take over a world and he's not. At least I don't think he is."

"You'll have your evidence soon enough, in a way that you can't deny. But to begin with, let me show you the power that you're dealing with."

Words such as that struck fear to any Chosen who'd fought against the minions of evil for as long as Koushirou or Sora had. Miyako and Iori hadn't fought nearly as long, but they still tensed up as a small force of Digimon appeared, each neatly fitted with an Evil Ring.

"Destroy them!" The Kaiser snapped, cracking his whip in the Chosen's direction. "And hurry up about it. I have matters to deal with elsewhere."

 _Elsewhere. That must be wherever he's keeping Motomiya-kun._ Koushirou took advantage of not being in the Kaiser's line of sight and started scanning with his laptop once again. There _had_ to be some kind of way to find him. The Kaiser couldn't possibly have blocked everything.

He could hear what was going on even as his fingers flew over the keyboard. Miyako-kun and Iori-kun were doing very well, shattering those evil Rings as fast as they could.

What bothered him on a different level was that the Kaiser didn't seem upset by this. In his experience, that meant that something was going the way that he wanted it somewhere.

"Well, so you've beaten them all," Kaiser purred a few moments later, ones that held no fruit at all for Koushirou despite his best efforts. He looked up at another vague sound, his eyes rounding as he spied what it was.

From the Kaiser's hand there hung a cage and in the cage was V-mon, tied and gagged. There wasn't room for him to evolve, even if Daisuke had been there in the first place, and as far as Koushirou could tell from this distance, he looked absolutely miserable.

"Tentomon," he murmured, judging the gap carefully. "Do you think you could get there and get that cage away from him?"

Tentomon buzzed cautiously, checking the range out himself. "I can try."

It was a risk, but a calculated one, in Koushirou's opinion. They were somewhat to one side of the Kaiser, whose attention remained focused on Miyako-kun and Iori-kun. He might not realize Tentomon was even there until it was too late.

And it could get them the information they needed, such as where Daisuke was and if what the Kaiser taunted them about was true.

Tentomon buzzed faster, aiming right for V-mon and the cage. The Kaiser didn't notice him, at least so far as Koushirou could tell.

"Let him go!" Iori demanded. "And release Motomiya-kun as well!"

"Now why would I do that? Motomiya Daisuke is my soulmate, and I am his. He _belongs_ to me." Kaiser sniffed. "And that includes his Digimon belonging to me as well."

"I wouldn't be so certain of that!" Tentomon buzzed, knocking into Kaiser's hand and grabbing into the cage. V-mon squealed, tiny paws straining at the bonds holding him. Tentomon swept back around to head toward Koushirou, moving with all the speed he could manage.

"How dare you! Bring that back to me!" Kaiser demanded. "Snimon! Bring me that cage and that V-mon in the cage!"

"Good work, Tentomon!" Koushirou declared, rising to his feet as his partner got closer. "Let's get out of here!"

Snimon hovered on Tentomon's trail, fast enough that Tentomon had to dodge swipes of those sharp-edged claws. Koushirou stared down at his Digivice and laptop, remembering the first time he'd helped his partner evolve.

 _Would that work now?_ He hadn't needed to do that in quite a long time. Now might not be the best time, not with Snimon that close.

"Red Sun!" Scarlet bright energy flashed from Holsmon's eyes, striking the Evil Ring around Snimon's arm and shattering it. Snimon hovered uncertainly, faceted eyes turning this way and that as the Digimon grasped its new freedom.

Kaiser growled words that Koushirou found himself quite glad that he couldn't hear properly. Tentomon perched next to him, settling the cage down on the ground. Koushirou lost no time in working at the lock… which didn't open.

"You'll need this, I'm afraid."

Half a dozen heads turned to stare at where the Kaiser held a key between gloved fingers.

"Nothing else can unlock that cage. So either hand him back to me or V-mon spends the rest of forever in the smallest place possible short of your collective intelligence."

Kaiser tilted the key for a moment before he slid it back into his pocket. "Now, which will it be?"

Koushirou raised his head to stare at their new enemy. He'd never fought a human before. The idea of what a human clearly as intelligent as the Kaiser could do terrified him on more levels than he could completely wrap his head around at the moment.

But if he'd learned nothing else from Yagami Taichi, it was that what terrified one should be faced head-on.

"There's no lock that can't be undone, with or without the proper key. We're not giving you V-mon and we are going to get Daisuke back." He refused to let himself think otherwise. Doing so would lead to endings that they didn't want to have happen.

Kaiser stared at him, silent for a few heartbeats, before he gestured again, more of his captive Digimon surging up around him and toward them. He said nothing else, just sent them ahead.

Koushirou did what anyone with a few grains of sense – and he had far more than a few – would do: he grabbed what he could hold and ran as fast as he could get his legs to move. Tentomon followed along, gripping onto the cage with his front claws. Holsmon and Digmon weren't that far away, slashing and striking and keeping as many of those Evil Ringed Digimon away as they could.

He didn't know how long it took before the sounds of combat faded off and there wasn't any more sign of the Kaiser's servants. All he could be certain of was that it took far too long.

* * *

Kaiser's teeth ground together as the so-called Chosen fled out of sight. His slaves would only follow to a point and without him there to think and give the orders, they would retreat eventually.

As irksome as it was, he didn't care enough about V-mon to want to chase them down. He wanted the little blue pest back more for the effect having him would have on Daisuke.

 _I'll send someone else to deal with this._ He had several Digimon who would be intelligent enough to handle such a matter without his personal supervision. It was just a matter of picking one out.

He would manage on that score later. For now, he had other points to deal with: such as getting back to the base and beginning his efforts on converting his soulmate to work for him.

 _This might be something I can work with as well._ He would have to be careful and clever, but he could do that very well.

He sent AirDramon soaring back towards the base, considering his future options. All of them were quite enticing.

* * *

Daisuke stared up at the ceiling. There wasn't really anywhere else that he could look. The bonds that kept him on the table meant he couldn't exactly check out the walls or floor that much.

Sadly, the ceiling wasn't all that interesting. He couldn't even see it all that well.

He let out a long sign and whacked his head a little against the table in sheer frustration.

 _This is the absolute worst day of my entire life._ He hadn't expected to peak for worse days on the day that he found his soulmate, but there he was.

At least Kaiser hadn't _touched_ him yet. The idea of touching Kaiser, of admitting that his soulmate was also the Digimon Kaiser, cemented his stomach with ice.

He didn't want to do that. He didn't even want to think about doing that. He wanted to think Kaiser felt the same way, refusing to let the bond fully flower when Daisuke remained against it.

He wanted to think that but he couldn't quite bring himself to _not_ think it. He'd seen those ice-cold violet eyes staring at him possessively.

What made it all just a few notches worse was that right now, he didn't have more than the vaguest idea of where Kaiser was, or where V-mon was. Kaiser had gone off with his partner to face the others, and quite rudely in Daisuke's opinion, hadn't taken Daisuke along.

 _They can't stay gone forever,_ he told himself. Sooner or later they would come back and when they did, Daisuke would find a way out of this for himself and V-mon.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head a little in what he knew was a vain attempt to relax. When the Kaiser got back he was going to do something. He would have to wait until he wasn't tied down anymore but it would be _something_.

Footsteps echoed from just outside the room, brisk and firm. Daisuke swallowed, struck by the sudden realization that Kaiser could put an Evil Ring on V-mon and he wouldn't even be there to see it, let alone do anything about it.

 _That won't happen! The others won't let it!_ He had to keep telling himself that. As long as he was here, they couldn't fight. At least he didn't think they could.

Before he could go very far down that mental trail, lights flared up, bright and cold and searing, and he slammed his eyes shut, a faint whimpering sliding out.

A gentle gloved hand touched the side of his face in what he guessed was meant as a soothing gesture. Daisuke refused to be soothed, pulling his head away from the Kaiser's unwelcome touch.

"You shouldn't do that," Kaiser reprimanded. As Daisuke's eyes adjusted once more to the cruel light, he came more into focus. From what Daisuke could see of him, he wasn't that bad looking. It was just the whole 'taking over the Digital World' and being kidnapped that got under Daisuke's skin.

"Why not?" He kept his head moving as best that he could, but Kaiser didn't allow that for long. His hands closed on the sides of Daisuke's head and held him still. " _You_ shouldn't do that!"

Kaiser smiled, staring down at him. Daisuke shuddered at the sight.

"Don't smile like that. You're creeping me out."

"You have no ability to lie, do you?" Kaiser sounded far more amused than he had any right to. "Do you ever stop to think before you speak, either?"

Daisuke shrugged. "What does it matter?" This wasn't even close to what he'd thought the first real chat with his soulmate would be like.

"Perhaps it doesn't." Kaiser released his grip and took a step back, still eyeing Daisuke as if he were a precious gem to be locked away. The comparison didn't make Daisuke all that happy. "You should know, your so-called friends have returned to the human world." A quick twist of his lips that Daisuke guessed was supposed to be a smile. "Without you."

Daisuke blinked at that. "Of course they couldn't take me. You've got me tied up here."

"Oh, I know. I can hardly miss that." Kaiser stayed far too close for Daisuke's taste. "But my point is that they didn't look for you. They got what they came for and left again." He tapped a forefinger against his lips. "They did take the time to retrieve your partner, though. And free a few of my slaves. But looking for you? That they didn't seem interested in."

Daisuke tried to wrap his head around what the Kaiser meant and shook his head when he couldn't get it. "V-mon's free, then!"

"Well, yes and no." Kaiser slipped one hand into a pocket and pulled out a finely carved silver key. "This alone will unlock his cage. So they'll have to bring him back sooner or later, and when they do, I have a Ring just for him ready."

Daisuke's breath caught in his lungs. He threw himself forward, the restraints keeping him from doing much more, and struggled until the bonds began to cut into his wrists.

Kaiser pushed him back onto the table with a finger and a frown. "Don't hurt yourself. I want you in perfect condition."

"Why? Are you going to try to put a Ring on me too?"

That earned a brief laugh from his captor. "An interesting idea. I should test to find out if that would work. But not today. No, today I want you in the best condition because this is our Meeting Day."

His gloved hand rested on Daisuke's wrist, just above where the numbers glowed emerald green. "This is the day we will celebrate for the rest of our lives as the day that we met one another. It is a special one, isn't it?"

"You don't really want me to answer that," Daisuke muttered. He'd had plans. A lot of them, most of which included at least asking if his soulmate wanted to come and meet his family, and maybe making plans to meet theirs. Being tied up here, and with the way that the Kaiser kept _looking_ at him, hadn't been on his to-do list.

Kaiser smiled a sweet, savage sort of smile. "Oh, I do. But I am aware you don't want to answer. You'd rather not be mine. You'd rather be anyone else's. Such as one of those fools who have abandoned you to your future at my feet."

A quicker, more violent head-shake than before. "That's not what they did!"

"I told them that you're my soulmate. Do you think they would waste their time trying to save someone who will work for me when next they see him?"

Daisuke ground his teeth. "I'm not going to! Nothing you can do can make me!" He dared Kaiser to test that. He'd put any Evil Ring through its paces before it stood half - a _third_ \- of a chance controlling him!

Kaiser didn't move and that meant he was still far too close. That far too smug smile stayed the same as well.

"We'll see how matters work out on that score, Motomiya Daisuke." He regarded Daisuke with far more thoughtfulness than one might have suspected. Daisuke didn't like this at all. "You need dinner."

Daisuke squared up his shoulders. "That's right. So you need to let me go so I can go home for it." And once he got home, he would call up Hikari-chan and find out where V-mon was and they would get all of this sorted out in nothing flat.

Kaiser brushed that gloved hand by the side of Daisuke's face again. Daisuke shuddered; one movement and skin would touch skin, forming the solid bond he refused to have.

"Oh, no. I think you're going to stay right here and enjoy dinner with me."

All words froze on Daisuke's lips at that. He wanted to protest even more, but just nothing wanted to come. The sheer idea of having dinner with the Kaiser blew every thinking cylinder that he had. They were enemies, even if they were soulmates. Daisuke didn't eat with the enemy!

A wheeled cart, pushed by a pair of rock-like Digimon, entered the room. Daisuke stared at it in confusion that got worse when delicious scents caught at his nose. Dinner had arrived.

"You're in luck. Normally I have my own home to go to for dinner. But tonight I knew I would meet my soulmate and so I made other arrangements." Kaiser chuckled, and Daisuke found yet another sound he hated to hear coming from him. "Now, let's see."

Daisuke struggled yet again but it was starting to feel like his efforts were more for show than anything else. So if someone asked if he'd tried to escape, he could fairly well say that he had, but the bonds were too strong.

He wanted to escape. That hadn't changed. But as much as the thought angered him, Daisuke started to wonder if he could.

* * *

Kaiser had indeed informed his parents that he would be having dinner with his soulmate that evening, and he would bring whoever it was over to meet them that weekend. It gave him a chance to not just find out which one of the pretend-Chosen he would be bonded to, but he could make the first inroads on convincing them to join him.

Granted, the more time he spent around Daisuke, the more he wondered just how stubborn the other boy could be. Stubborn, dense, unyielding, brash, refusing to see sense…

Kaiser knew quite well they were soulmates, but the more time he spent around Motomiya Daisuke, the more he found himself attracted to that raging fire bound before him.

He put that thought in the back of his head for now, turning instead to pick a piece of the provided dinner and bring it to Daisuke's lips. Daisuke sealed those lips together and turned his head away.

"Not hungry," he murmured, just in time for his stomach to offer its own loud and rumbly opinion on the matter. Kaiser settled the food on Daisuke's lips.

"Open up," he ordered. "You're going to need all of your strength."

"I am?"

Kaiser wasted no time, but shoved the piece of braised beef into Daisuke's mouth, drawing out a muffled squawk.

"Now, chew and swallow that. I have more coming."

Kaiser hadn't often eaten with anyone except his parents and this was the first time that he'd fed someone like this. Part of it was sheer practicality: he didn't want Daisuke escaping, which meant keeping him restrained, which meant his prisoner had to be fed _somehow_.

Part of it was an odd sort of pleasure that welled up at the thought of sharing a meal with his soulmate.

He'd never put much thought into how finding the one bearing the matching counter would change matters for him. There were books written on the subject and seminars held around the world on a regular basis, open to all of those who had a counter. But the great Digimon Kaiser hadn't worried himself about it.

He'd had other matters to deal with. He'd presumed all along that whoever it was would share his goals and dreams and thus he would have to do little more than greet the other before they embarked on a grand spree of conquest.

Matters had changed a great deal in the last day. He thought it remained too soon to tell if they changed for the better or not.

At a minimum, he found Motomiya Daisuke quite amusing. He would definitely keep him around.

* * *

Hikari picked at the lock, the slender edge of the knife rattling around in there, but not having that much success. She remained glad she kept her hair short. She didn't need it getting into her mouth right now.

Thinking about that kind of thing gave her something else to occupy her mind instead of everything else that wanted to do so. She would get Chibimon out first. Then they would talk about Daisuke being the Kaiser's soulmate.

Chibimon confirmed that, at least.

"The numbers stopped," he reported once Iori, who had the smallest hands, reached in and got the gag out of his mouth. "That's a special thing, isn't it?"

"That's right," Takeru agreed. He had to keep a few steps away or Hikari swore she would stab him with the makeshift lock pick. Doing this was hard enough. Having someone hover over her made it ten times as hard.

"Is Daisuke going to be all right?" Chibimon wanted to know. Iori continued to work on releasing him the best that he could, getting the bonds that held him undone. It wasn't nearly as easy as it would have been if he'd been out of the cage, but they couldn't just let him stay like that.

Hikari wanted him done too. She would need all of the space she could get to even stand a chance at this.

They had so much to do and this was all Hikari could think of that they stood a chance of accomplishing. None of them knew where the Kaiser's base was. If Chibimon knew, he hadn't said anything. Daisuke was the Kaiser's soulmate and that couldn't be changed. They had two more Digimentals but would that be enough to wage a war like this?

They had to fight. Hikari just had no idea on if they had the right weapons to fight with.

 **To Be Continued  
Notes:** I have a long list of fics to update and it all begins here.


End file.
